Ramp valve for automatic train-control apparatus



Oct. 21 1924. 1,512,195 D. J. BISSELL, JR

RAMP VALVE FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL APPARATus Filed May 1 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 1 imlmuuui mum Get. 21 1924.

D. J. BISSELL, JR

RAMP VALVE FOR AUTOMATIC TRAID] CONTROL APPARATUS Fil ed May 1. 1923 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Q ,3 Hill I -g lllmllllll .m 32mm 4 5% IKMIIIIII!'DJBILsse ,2;

Patented Get. 21, 1924.

DAVID J. BISSELL, J'R., OF SPOKANE, \VASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR T0 OTISAUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL INCORPORATED, OF SPOKANE,

OF WASHINGTON.

WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION RAMP VALVE FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN-CONTROLAPTARATUS.

Application filed. May 1,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID J. BISSELL, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State ofWashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RampValves for Automatic Train-Control Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to automatic train control apparatus of the typeincluding a ramp valve or valves effective upon actuatlon thereof bysuitable track mechanism to cause an automatic reduction of pressure inthe ordinary train air brake system with consequent setting of thebrakes and stopping of the train under certain predetermined conditions,as for instance, in the event the train should attempt to enter anoccupied block.

More particularly my invention relates to an improved ramp valve andmeans for automatically controlling its operation, as disclosed, but notclaimed per se in my copending application serially numbered 635,895.

In the accompanying drawings which are illustrative of my improved rampvalve in its preferred form, and wherein like characters of referencedenote corresponding parts in the different views,

Figure 1 is a vertical section through my improved ramp valve and itsautomatic control means, showing the relation of these parts relativelyand with respectto a ramp device for actuating the same;

Figure 2, an elevation of one end of the ramp valve;

Figure 3, an elevation of the other end of the ramp valve;

Figure 4-, an enlarged transverse section showing the ramp valveactuated to train stopping position;

Figure 5, a longitudinal section through the ramp valve; and

Figure 6, a detail the ramp valve showing therein.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals, it will be observed that myimproved ramp valve, which is-adapted to be mounted at any suitablepoint on a locomotive, consists essentially of a casing provided with'abore 11 within which is rotatably mounted a plug 12- Preferably the boresectional view through the bleed opening 1923. Serial No. 635,897.-

11 and plug 12 are tapered whereby a tight fit of the latter within theformer is assured and whereby wear may be compensated, plug 12 beingheld within said bore 11 in any pre ferred manner as for instance bymeans of the removable cap illustrated at 13.

Formed in the casing 10 are three evenly spaced ports in the sametransverse planewith a pair of relatively communicating ports 17 and 18formed in the plug 12, said ports 17 18 being so spaced that when plug12 is in one predetermined rotated position, they aline, respectively,with ports 15,16, while in another predetermined rotated position of theplug they aline, respectively, with ports 14:, 15 and port 16 isblanked. The plug 12 preferably is provided with a tapered bore withinwhich is disposed a hollow sleeve 19 as and for the purpose disclosed inmy copending application previously referred to, but asthe provision ofsleeve 19 is not new with me and is not essential, it need not here beconsidered in detail. a port 20 that is of limited depth and elongatedin the direction of the axis of the plug, so that when ports 17,18 arealined, respectively, with ports 15, 16, port 14 is placed incommunication with a small bleed opening 21 formed in the casing theatmosphere.

The means of a depending ramp engageable shoe including a pair of arms22, 23 connected together by a cross piece'orpieces 24; One of thesearms, 22, is non-rotatably connected with a projecting end of the plug12, while the other arm, 23, is rotatably journaled on a stud 25projecting from the casing 10, said stud having secured thereto a doublearm spring 26, the ends of which are connected with arm23 of the shoe,so as to hold said shoe normally in a vertical position with ports 17 18alined, respectively, with ports 15, 16, or, if desired, this purposemaybe accomplished in any other desired or preferred manner, the onlyessential being that means be provided, the tendency of which is toreturn the shoe automatically to'normal vertical position following itsangular movement and consequent rotation of plug 12 from any cause. 7

Carried by the lower ends of arms 22, 23

10 and opening to The plug also is provided with for rotating plug 12consists '14, 15 and 16 that are disposed is a roller 27 that is adaptedto Contact with a ramp to swing the shoe and as aconsequence rotate theplug 12.

Associated with said ramp valve is a latch device to retain the shoe inan u tnvardl swung position against the force of spring 26 followingactuation of the shoe by a ramp device. This latch device consists of apin 28 carrying a disk 29 that is slidable within a bore 30 in thecasing 10, said pin, at its inner end, extending through a reducedportion of said bore into contact with th outer surface of plug 12, andat its outer end being surrounded by an eX pansion coil spring 31 thatreacts from a cap 32 threaded on the casing in enclosing relation tosaid bore and pin, against disk 29 to urge the pin inwardly into contact with the plug. In the plug is formed a recess into which the innerend of the pin is projected by said spring to latch the'plug againstrotative movement when the shoe has been swung to aline ports 1'7, 18with ports 14, 15.

Communicating with the inner end of the bore 30 is a pipe 34 by means ofwhich air under pressure may he introduced against the inner face or"disk 29 to force the same outwardly and thus withdraw pin 28 from recessto unlatch the plug 12 whereby the same may be returned automatically toits normal position by spring 26.

A slide valve is associated with said ramp valve to control the airsupply to the bore 30 for releasing the latch device, said slide valvebeing located a coi' siderable distance either forwardly or reai'wardlyof the ramp valve, depending upon whetherthe latter is intended forcontrolling forward or backward movements of a train, this for a purposethat will later appear.

The slide valve consists of a casing 35 within which is verticallymovable a block 36, one side of which is provided with an elongatedrecess 37. This block has secured thereto the upper end of a rod 38 thatdepends through a suitable brace or fixed support' 39 and atits lowerend is provided with a ramp engageable roller 40. ()u said rod is acollar all and bearing downwardly on this collar is a coil spring 42that urges said rod downward and as a consequence holds the blocknormally at. its limit of downward movement within the casing 35, inwhich position of the block recess 37 communicates at one end with aport 43 in the casing to which pipe. 34 is connected, and at its otherend communicates with a port 4% in the casing opening to the atmosphere.Thus the bore 30 of the ramp valve'is vented normally and sub ject onlyto atmospheric pressure, so that the inward projecting influence ofspring 31 against the pin 28 is unresisted.

Leading into the casing 35 is a pipe 45 by means of which the casing isprovided with a constant supply of air under pres sure. Consequently,whenever the block 36 is raised sufficiently to uncover port 43, portl-l simultaneously blanked and air is admitted from the casing into pipeill to retract the pin 28 from recess 33 and thus release the latch asaforementioned. The rod 38 has only a limited amount oi. upward movementas determined by a suitable stop thereon engageable with the fixedsupport 39, and when it is at the limit of its upward movement, roller40 is disposed helow the roller 27 of the ramp valve when the latter isin its normal running position, this fo1:"a purpose that will laterappear.

The ramp device consists of a suitable casing 46 within which isarranged suitable mechanism for operating the ramp rails 4-7, 4-8,whereby, it the track is clear, said ramp rails, while remainingnormally elevat l are capable of being depressed by sliuh force andconsequently are ineffective to actuate the ramp valve, while on theother hand, if the track is blocked and said ramp rails are depressed,they immediately return to the elevated position indicated in thedrawings and their depression is resisted so that they are effective toactuate the ramp valve. Leading to said ramp device is an elongated,gradually inclined approach rail 49.

My improved ramp valve as described in the foregoing may be connectedwith the usual train line pipe and 'ith the supply from the usualengineers valve in. various manners, but for convenience I have shown thsame connected substantially as indicated in my copending application635,895 ireviously referred to; that is, port 16 has connected therewitha supply pipe 50 and port 15 is connected by a pipe 51 with the trainline pipe 52, while port 14 is connected by a pipe 53 with a suitablespeed control valve or mechanism as indicated at 5d and also with asuitable valve 55 that places pipe 53 normally in communication with theatmosphere, but which may be closed manually to cause all air withinsaid pipe to flow to valve 54.

in view of the foregoing, the operation of my improved ramp valve isapparent and as follows:

Upon movement of the train in a direc tion to pass over the ramp device,roller l!) contacts with and rides up the approach rail 4-9 until rod 38raises lock 36 sufliciently to uncover port 43 and simultaneously blankport 44. This admits air into here 30, but if the shoe and plug of theramp valve are in normal running position the effect of such admissionofair is nil. On the other hand, if the shoe and plug of the ramp valveare in the position shown in Figure 4, the latch pin 28 will beretracted from recess 33 and spring 26 then will actto move the plug andshoe to normal running position. Upon continued movement of the train,roller 27 on the shoe of the ramp valve contacts with ramp rails 47, 48,but if the track is clear,"downw'ard movement of these rails isunresisted and consequently no actuation of the ramp valve will result.If, on the other hand, the track is blocked and downward movement of:the ramp rails is resisted, the shoe oftheramp valve willibe swung tothe position of Figure 4 and as a consequence, the supply will be cutoff and the train line exhausted through valve 55, thus causing thebrakes to be applied to bring the train to an automatic stop. If theengineer is ailert,'- he may close valve 55, so that train line pressurewill be exhausted through valve 54 only in the event the train exceeds apredetermined low rate of speed. Accordingly the train may proceedwithin such predetermined low rate of speed until the next ramp deviceis encountered and if the track then is clear actuation of the latchmechanism will release the shoe and permit the spring 26 to return theparts of the ramp valve to normal running position, whereupon the trainmay proceed at increased speed as is apparent. On the other hand, solong as the track remains blocked, succeeding ramp devices will serve tomaintain the rampvalve in the position of Figure 4 and the speed of thetrain thus will be maintained 7 at or below the predetermined low ratpermitted by valve 54:.

By the provision of port 20 and bleed opening 21, the air pressure inpipe 53, following actuation of the ramp valve, is rented to theatmosphere.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that the construction, operationand advantages of my present improvement will be fully understood. It isdesired to point out, however, that various changes and desirableadditions may be made in and to the arrangements illustrated within thespirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. In automatic train control apparatus, the combination withthe train pipe and the fluid pressure supply pipe of an ordinary airbrake system, of a ramp operable valve having a normal positionestablishing com-' munication therethrough between the pressure supplypipe and the train pipe and movable to another position to denycommunication therethrough between the sup ply pipe and the train linepipe and simultaneously vent the train line pipe, and automaticallyreleasabl means to hold said valve inthe latter position.

,means constantly urging said valve to a normal position, and anautomatically releasable device tohold said valve in a train pipeventing position against the influence, of said means. 3 v

3. In automatic train control apparatus, the combination with the trainpipe and the fluid pressure supply pipe ofan ordinary air brake system,of a ramp operable valve having a normal position establishingcommunication therethrough between the pressur supply pipe and the trainpipe and movable to another position to deny communication therethroughbetween the supply pipe and the train line pipe and simultaneously ventthe train line pipe, and automatically operable fluid'pressurereleasable means to hold said valve in the latter po sition.

4. In automatic train control apparatus, the combination with the trainpipe'and the fluid pressure supply pipe of an ordinary air brake system,of a ramp operable valve having a normal position establishingcommunication therethrough between the pressure supply pipe and thetrain pipe and movable to another position to deny communicationtherethrough between the supply pipe and the train line pipe andsimultaneously vent the train line pipe, a latch device engageable withthe valve tohold the same in the latter position, and fluid municationtherethrough between the supply pipe and the train line pipe andsimultaneously vent the train linepipe, a latch device engageable withthe valve to hold the same in the latter position, and ramp operablemeans to release said latch device.

6. In automatic train control apparatus, the combination with the trainpipe and the fluid pressure supply pipeof an ordinary air brake system,of a ramp operable valve having a normal position establishingcommunicatlon therethrough between the pres- Eda Sure supply pipe andthe train pipe and movable to another position to deny communicationtherethrough between the supply pipe and the train line pipe andsimultaneously vent the train line pipe, a latch device engageable withthe valve to hold the same in the latter position, and fluid pressuremeans including a second ramp operable valve to release said latchdevice.

7. In automatic train control apparatus, train carried mechanismcomprising, in combination with the train pipe and fluid pressure supplypipe of an ordinary air brake system, a valve having a normal positionestablishing communication between said pressure supply pipe and saidtrain pipe and movable to another position to deny communication betweensaid pressure supply pipe and said train pipe and simultaneously ventthe train pipe, a device to hold said valve in train pipe ventingposition, and means controlled by train movements; to effect releaseof'said device to permit said valve to move to normal position.

8. In automatic train control apparatus, the combination With the trainpipe and the fluid pressure supply pipe of an ordinary air brake system,of a valve having a normal position establishing communication betweenthe pressure supply pipe and the train pipe and movable to anotherposition to deny communication between the'supply pipe and the trainpipe and to simultaneously vent the train pipe, a releasable device tohold said valve in the latter position, fluid pressure operated meansfor effecting release of said device to permit the valve to move tonormal position, and means for automatically operating said fluidpressure means under predetermined conditions.

9. In automatic train control apparatus, the combination with the trainpipe and the fluid pressure supply pipe of an ordinary air brake system,of a valve having a normal position establishing communication betweensaid fluid pressure supply pipe and said train pipe and movable toanother position ito deny communication between the supply pipe and thetrain pipe and to simul taneously vent the train pipe, and a releasabledevice to hold said valve in the latter position, said device and saidvalve being adapted for automatic actuation by a common operator.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

DAVID J. BISSELL, JR.

